Advocates say the New York Power Authority is a “sleeping giant” in the energy transition.
By Emily Pontecorvo, Grist
On Monday night, more than 200 activists tuned into a “rapid response” Zoom call organized by the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA. It was a chance to regroup after a rollercoaster week where it looked as though a DSA-authored climate bill might make it through the state legislature.
The bill, called the Build Public Renewables Act, soared through the New York State Senate last Wednesday. After a zealous eleventh-hour push by grassroots organizers to garner support in the Assembly, it appeared to have the 76 “yeas” required to send it to the governor’s desk, and then some. But on Saturday, Carl Heastie, the Democratic speaker of the Assembly, brought the year’s legislative session to a close without ever giving his colleagues a chance to vote on it.

“We need to consider this as the beginning of our movement as opposed to the end,” Zohran Mamdani, a state assembly member from Queens, said on the Monday call.
Supporters of the bill painted it as a climate package that would have sped up the pace at which renewable energy comes online in New York state. But beyond that, it would have opened the door for a larger role for publicly owned power, testing whether giving the government more ownership over the clean energy transition can deliver in ways that the private market hasn’t.
Recent Posts
In Ukraine, Biden Is Walking Into A Trap
March 20, 2023
Take Action Now Three key factors show why the administration needs to press the accelerator pedal on negotiations with Russia now. by…
Immediate Action Is Needed To Ensure ‘A Livable Future For All,’ UN Climate Panel Says
March 20, 2023
Take Action Now World needs a “quantum leap” in climate ambition to stave off devastating consequences. By Joseph Winters, Grist Current and future…
The Lords of Chaos
March 20, 2023
Take Action Now The politicians and shills in the media who orchestrated 20 years of military debacles in the Middle East, and who seek a world…
War Made Easy: The Iraq War 20 Years Later
March 19, 2023
Take Action Now This critically acclaimed documentary exhumes five decades of remarkable archival footage to show how presidents from both parties…